Film Director and choreographer Stanley Donen He directed "On the Town," "Singin' in the Rain," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "Funny Girl," and more. He collaborated with Gene Kelly as dance director on such films as "Cover Girl," and "Anchors Away." There's a new biography of Donen, Dancing on the Ceiling: Stanley Donen and his Movies (Knopf), written by Stephen M. Silverman.
Hip-hop dancer Adesola Osakalumi otherwise known as D'Incredible. He's performed on the American Music Awards and in music videos. He comes from a family of dancers. His parents formed the group Africa I Dance Theatre. Osakalumi and other pioneering hip-hop groups formed Ghettoriginal Productions. Their production "Jam on the Groove" is at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York until February 18th.
Maureen Corrigan reviews the new book, Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics, the fiction book based on the Clinton presidential campaign, by Anonymous. (Random House).
Inventor and the man called "the greatest marketer/salesman of the television era," Ron Popeil. He's sold everything from the Veg-O-Matic to the Pocket Fisherman on television, amassing over one billion dollars in sales. He's written a new book about how he did it, Ron Popeil: The Salesman of the Century, (Delacorte Press, with Jefferson Graham).
The creator of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee. He created the web in 1989, as a way to organize his own projects. The Web has grown rapidly since then. In 1992 there were 100 sites on it, as of last May there were 22,000. Berners-Lee is dedicated to keeping the Web open as a public good. He now works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he heads the World Wide Web Consortium, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing standards, protocols and new software for the Web.
Commentator Gerald Early reflects on his wife's work with the Junior League of St. Louis. She is the first African-American woman to be elected president of that city's chapter.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new recording of live performances from the 1959 Salzburg Festival, including the late Erica Morini playing Mozart's Violin concerto No. 5, conducted by George Szell with the French National Radio and Television Orchestra. (on Sony)
Historian Dan T. Carter. His book, Scottsboro was the winner of the Bancroft Prize in History for the best book in American History. Carter's newest book is a biography of George Wallace, The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, The Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics. (Simon & Schuster). In the book Carter contends that Wallace paved the way for the conservatism that is now a big part of Republican politics. Carter is Kenan Professor of History at Emory University.
Laurie Pepper is the wife of the late alto saxophonist Art Pepper, who died in 1982 and was considered to be the greatest alto saxophonist of the post-Charlie Parker generation. Terry talks with Pepper on the occasion of the updated version of her husband's autobiography, Straight Life, (which he wrote with the help of Laurie, published by Da Capo Press). There are also two new box sets of Pepper's music: "The Complete Village Vanguard Sessions," and "The Complete Galaxy Recordings."
National Political correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, Ronald Brownstein. He has collaborated on a new book, Storming the Gates: Protest Politics and the Republican Revival (Little, Brown and Company, written with Dan Balz, national editor of the Washington Post). In the book they look at how the Republicans captured Congress, so shortly after the defeat of George Bush in the presidential election, and how the Republican party has changed dramatically in the last ten years.
Former British diplomat Lord David Owen has written a new memoir about his efforts to broker a peace plan in the Former Yugoslavia. It is called Balkan Odyssey published by Harcourt Brace. Owen along with Cyrus Vance drafted the Vance-Owen peace plan that was considered but never adopted by the warring sides.
Senator Bill Bradley has written a book about his life called Time Present, Time Past published by Knopf. Bradley announced last year that he would not seek re-election in 1996. In addition to his political career, Bradley was also a star basketball player with the New York Knicks.
A concert with Loudon Wainwright III. He performs songs from his new album "Grown Man." by Virgin Records. This is his 15th album. Interview conducted by Rock Critic Ken Tucker.
Health care analyst and substance abuse expert Joseph Califano. He was LBJ's assistant for domestic affairs from 1959-65 and Secretary for Health, Education and Welfare under Jimmy Carter from 1977-79. Joseph Califano is also president of the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, a research and experimental care facility at Columbia University. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)
